And for the Time of Our Lives
by MyVersion41319
Summary: Collection of Castle family one-shots from points in the future. Not in chronological order, jumps around to all ages and stages. Accepting prompts!
1. Chapter 1

**Prompt:** **"You made your brothers look like Mommy?"**

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Castle was completely absorbed in his writing. He hadn't gotten going like this in a long time. Kate was fantastic about letting him work when she got home, but the kids had his attention before that. Now that Lilly was in kindergarten and the boys had preschool 3 days a week, it was a lot easier, but he was still massively behind. After a threatening phone call from Gina, he decided to set the kids up to watch a movie, so he could work. He hated doing it, but today, he didn't have much of a choice. Castle had been working for about 3 hours when his phone rang and startled him out of his writing trance. He grabbed it and answered.

"Hey Babe, I'm leaving the precinct now. I'm going to stop and get milk, do we need anything else?"

"No, I think milk is it," Castle answered shocked to discover it was already that late.

"How were the kids today? Did they let you get any writing done?"

"Yeah. They were great. Perfect angels," Castle replied nervously. He hoped they were perfect angels. They had been too quiet for too long. The movie had to be over. Why didn't they come get him? He saved his work as he said good bye to his wife and got up to find the kids. When he realized they weren't in the living room, where he left them, he knew this wasn't going to be good.

"Lilly?" He called out as he walked around. "Jake! Reece!" Maybe they were hiding from him. The twins had recently discovered the joy in jumping out from behind something and startling people. When his calls went unanswered, he start to get a little nervous. He was heading for the stairs, when he heard his daughter answer him. Apparently, they were in the bathroom. Great. They definitely weren't up to something.

"Daddy, I make the boys pretty," Lilly proudly announced when Castle entered the room. How the children ended up in the master bathroom without him noticing, he didn't know, but all three of them sat on floor looking up at him with big innocent faces. The problem was their faces weren't clean. Jake and Reece were covered in a variety of shades of makeup in every which direction.

"I see that. How did you get mommy's make up?" Castle asked as he continued to take in the scene. What he suspected to be all of his wife's make up was scattered on the floor around them. All of it open and all of it messy. He cringed as he saw her mascara open with the wand sitting across her compact, leaving a black streak across the powder.

"I stood on the stool and climbed the counter," Lilly explained and ducked her head.

"You know you aren't allowed to do that. You could have gotten hurt!"

"But look how pretty the boys are. Like Mommy."

"You made your brothers look like Mommy?" Castle laughed.

"I wanted to do me, but it's hards."

"So they were the next best option?" Castle couldn't help himself, he kept laughing. He noticed there was a smudge of foundation on Lilly's cheeks too along with the colorful spread on his boys' faces. They looked absolutely nothing like Kate.

"They wiggled too much," Lilly pouted.

"I'm sure they did. Sweetie, boys don't wear makeup."

"Why not?"

"Well… I guess they can if they want to, but most boys don't want to," Castle scrambled.

"Jakey and Reece wanted to," Lilly said quickly giving her dad a big smile.

"Did they?"

"Yep," she answered innocently.

"Boys?" Castle turned to his sons, who had been suspiciously quiet. His little chatter boxes were never this quiet.

They both just nodded their heads quickly up and down.

"The women completely run this house," Castle laughed at his sons' compliance. How in the world his 6 year old gained the power to control two 3 year old little boys, he didn't know, but it was clear she had.

"Lilly, are you allowed to mess with Mommy's stuff without asking?" Castle asked. It was time to get serious. Lilly needed punished, and this needed cleaned up. Quickly.

"No," she answered quietly.

"What was that?"

"No," she said louder, and her little face crumbled.

"Don't cry, Sweetie. It's okay. This is daddy's fault too. How about we just clean up the mess and your brothers really quick and don't tell mommy?"

"I can't lie to mommy!" Lilly exclaimed as more tears fell down her face.

"Oh no. We aren't going to lie. We just aren't going to tell her. We can keep it a secret just between us. It's okay," Castle explained quickly as he knelt down on the floor in front of his daughter. Just like when Alexis did when she was little, Lilly got herself all worked up when she was in any kind of trouble.

"I'm sorry," Lilly sniffled.

"I know. You won't ever do it again, right?"

"Right."

"Okay. Let's just clean up." Castle stood and grabbed the little plastic tray off the counter. "I want you to close up all the makeup nice and neat and put it back in here. I'm going to clean up your brothers." He scooped up each one of the boys and sat them on the edge on the counter. "No jumping off!" He instructed his sons as they gave him mischievous little smiles. Castle riffled through the top drawer not taking his eyes off his sons to really look inside. He felt the package for Kate's makeup remover wipes and pulled it out. He knew it would be the fastest and most effective method. As he opened the package, he stopped and took his phone out of his pocket. He knew Kate was going to find out, so he might as well have a cute picture to show her to soften her anger. After getting a few shots, he wiped down his sons' face as they squirmed and whined. "See boys, being a girl is hard work," he laughed as they glared at him. He plopped them both down on the floor as soon as he was done, and they both ran off.

He turned around to see Lilly holding up the makeup bin with everything inside. It was surprisingly orderly for being put away be a 6 year-old. "Thank you, Lilypad." He stuck it back up on the counter and grabbed one more wipe to clean up her face too. "It's really okay. I know you're sorry," he said as he saw her little lip start to quiver again.

"I really, really am, Daddy."

"I know. Come on let's go see what we want to make for dinner."

It wasn't ten minutes before Kate came home. The boys abandoned their trucks in the middle of the living room floor and ran straight into her legs. "Hey, my little men," she greeted as she knelt down to capture them both in the big hug. They were chattering a mile minute. When they released, Reece grabbed the milk clearly struggling to carry it and took it to the kitchen with his brother right behind him trying to help. "Thank you, Boys. That was very nice of you."

"How's my girl?" Kate asked as she followed into the kitchen and dropped a kiss on Lilly's head.

"Good," she answered quietly and shy. Unusual for her.

"How was work?" Castle asked and gave his wife a quick kiss.

"It was fine, but Castle…why do our sons smell like my makeup remover?" She asked with a laugh.

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 **A/N: Thoughts? I have a few more already just about written that will be posted soon. Feel free to send me prompts!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Let's all pretend that Castle and Beckett didn't get shot in the finale because I think it was dumb and want to ignore it. When they cancelled the show, they should have taken that scene out. It served no literally purpose. It only worked if they needed to kill Beckett. It hurt me. and I want to pretend it didn't happen (like most of season 8).**

 **Prompt: "Two for the price of one!"- Castle**

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Castle and Beckett had been sitting in the waiting room at her OBGYN's office for about 20 minutes. Today was her second appointment and the day of her first ultrasound. Kate was less nervous this time around than she had been when she was pregnant with Lilly. She knew what to expect, and that helped a lot. She was still worried though. It was nearly impossible not to think of worst case scenarios especially because she hasn't been feeling well. All she wanted was a healthy baby. Beside her, Castle was thinking nearly the same thing. He was worried about his wife and child, but he was doing his best to look calm.

"Mrs. Castle," a nurse called out.

"Do you want me to come now?" Castle asked grabbing Kate's wrist as she stood up.

"I don't think so. Someone will come get you for the ultrasound. I'm sure the doctor will need to do other stuff first," Kate answered.

"You'll tell her?"

"Of course, Castle," she huffed frustrated. She knew he would act like this, but he should know she isn't that person anymore. She hasn't been for quite some time now. Her first pregnancy scared her into freely admitting problems to her doctors.

"Sorry."

"It's fine, Babe. I'm nervous too." She gave his hand a little squeeze and left to follow the nurse.

Kate had been sitting in the exam room for about 10 minutes when her doctor knocked. She hadn't been sure about Dr. Moore when she first met her early in her pregnancy with Lilly, but the doctor quickly gained her trust and respect. They ended up having a great relationship. Her normal doctor, whom she had seen for years, decided that she needed to see a high risk OBGYN instead based on her age and previous injury to her heart. Thankfully, her pregnancy went smoothly and none of the worst case scenarios happened, but the possibility was enough to scare both her into following every instruction the doctor gave absolutely perfectly. Dr. Moore was firm on some issues, but still very open to Kate's wants. Kate had been the model patient even though she didn't always agree the precautions were necessary. In the end, she had an uncomplicated delivery, and Lilly was born absolutely perfect. It was all worth it, and Kate planned on following the same plan with this next baby.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Castle. How are you?" Dr. Moore greeted.

"I'm good. Eager to see this little one." Kate smiled placing a hand on her stomach. It was almost flat, but Kate was so in love with the little life hiding in there.

"The first ultrasound is always fun. How have you been feeling?"

"To be honest, not great. I've had terrible morning sickness, and I've been absolutely exhausted. It wasn't this bad my first pregnancy," Kate nervously explained.

"Every pregnancy is different. How often are feeling sick?"

"I'm nauseous pretty much all the time, and I actually throw up about twice a day."

"Have you noticed things that seem to trigger it?" The doctor asked.

"I usually get sick when I first wake up and then randomly at some point during the day. It doesn't seem to be affected by what I eat or if I eat. The nausea is triggered by the same things that got to me when I was pregnant with my daughter. Almost any strong smell will make me queasy."

"Any abdominal pain or cramping?"

"No, none. I would have come in sooner."

"Good. What about constipation or diarrhea?"

"No," Kate answered shaking her head.

"Have you been lightheaded or dizzy at all?"

"Maybe a little bit. I've made sure I still eat enough and try to stay hydrated even though I feel awful."

"Excellent. That's important," The doctor smiled.

"My husband is always bringing me ginger ale and saltines. He's more than a little protective." When she was pregnant with Lilly, Castle would have put her on bed rest for the whole 9 months if he could have. Once they learned, there was a chance Kate's heart could have some difficulty handling the extra stress of the baby, he went into full protection mode. It drove her crazy, but she knew he did it out of love.

"I remember," Dr. Moore laughed.

Kate was relieved her doctor didn't seemed concerned or worried. Hopefully, her extra sickness was really no issue. "I wish I could tell you he is going to be more mellow this time around, but I highly doubt it."

"That's no problem at all. For an outsider, it's adorable to watch."

"It won't be adorable when you have to testify after I kill him," Kate grumbled.

"I can write you a prescription for an anti-nausea medication and maybe extend his life a little bit."

"I don't think I need anything. As long as nothing is wrong, I can just tough it out." Even though she knew any medication she would be given would be safe for the baby, she really didn't want to mess with it. She would take something if she had to, but if it was just for comfort she didn't need it.

"I figured you would say that, but I wanted to offer. I took a look at the blood work you had done for today, and your HCG levels are a little higher than normal-"

"What does that mean?" Kate interrupted quickly. Any sense of calm she had found went out the window.

"Relax. I would be worried if it was low, but high is perfectly fine. It may mean absolutely nothing, but it does explain why you have been feeling worse than you did your first pregnancy. I looked back in your chart, and it's significantly higher than when you were at this stage with Lilly," the doctor explained.

"Why would it be higher?"

"It could be nothing. Every pregnancy is different, but it's also a sign that you MAY be having twins. I don't want you to get your hopes up. The HCG test isn't very accurate at predicting multiples."

"Multiples?!" Kate practically yelled.

"We won't know until we do the ultrasound."

"Can we do it now?" Kate asked as she took a deep breath.

"We can, but I think we should do the rest of the exam first and get it out of the way. That way after we find out, you can go."

"Yeah, okay… Multiples," Kate muttered.

The doctor asked her a few more questions and did an exam. Kate was barely paying attention the whole time. Her mind was spinning. Twins! What if it was more than twins? Oh, God! She was going to kill Castle.

"I can have a nurse grab your husband and we'll do the ultrasound?" Dr. Moore asked breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Yes, thank you."

"Everything okay?" Castle asked when he came in. His wife was sitting up on the exam table, but she was as pale as a ghost.

"Yeah… yeah," she said quietly looking at him desperately.

"Kate?" He pressed.

"It might be twins! Or God, triplets!"

"Hey, calm down. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Remember what I said. The test isn't very accurate," Dr. Moore said gently placing a hand on her patient's shoulder.

"Someone want to fill me in?" Castle asked looking between the two women.

"That's why I feel so awful. There's more than one in here," Kate said frantically pointing to her stomach.

"Doc?" Castle turned to Dr. Moore as a smile stretched across his face.

"Some of her bloodwork indicates she MAY be pregnant with twins. It would explain her amplified symptoms too. We can't know for sure until we take a look. It could just be this pregnancy is a little different than her first."

"Okay. This could be great. Two for the price of one!" Castle said excitedly.

"Castle!" Kate scolded and smacked his arm.

"Alright, why don't we get started and get you some answers," Dr. Moore suggested.

"Please," Kate nearly begged.

"Okay, lie back for me."

Kate got situated on the table, and Castle grasped her hand. He felt a little bad, she looked really freaked out. He knew everything would be fine. They could handle more than one baby. They could handle anything. But he did recognize he wasn't the one that had to share his body with the little ones. Of course, she was panicking.

"Well?" Kate asked after a few moments of the doctor moving the transducer around her stomach.

The doctor turned the screen so the parents could see it. "Congratulations! It's definitely twins. Here's baby one… and here's baby two."

"Two," Kate and Castle gasped at the same time.

"And they're healthy?" Castle asked after a moment. Kate was still mesmerized by the screen.

"Everything looks great," the doctor smiled.

"Oh my God," Kate said under her breath.

"Can we get pictures?" Castle asked eagerly.

"Of course, Mr. Castle."

"I was terrified by the idea, but now I'm just…" Kate spoke up.

"Just?" Castle questioned.

"Happy. So happy," She let out as tears ran down her cheeks.

"Me too," Castle replied. His own eyes shining with the tears he hadn't let fall. He leaned over and kissed her wife briefly aware the doctor was in the room.

"How different is this going to be?" Kate asked when Castle stood up.

"Everything will be enhanced. You'll get bigger and like you are seeing now, you're pregnancy symptoms will be worse. I'll need to you more frequently and we'll keep a closer eye on you because you're at higher risk for complications. I don't want you to worry about the delivery yet, but you are more likely to end up having a C-section than last time," the doctor explained.

"I know it thankfully wasn't an issue last time, but should we be worried about the stress on her heart with an extra baby?" Castle asked. He didn't want to burst their bubble of happiness, but he needed to know.

"Right now, I don't think so, but we'll keep an eye on it. I may have you check in with your cardiologist as you get further along, but for now, try to worry too much."

"Okay." Kate took a deep breath. "Twins."

"Twins," Castle repeated.

"Lilly is going to freak out," Kate laughed.

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 **A/N:Thoughts? Thanks for all the follows and reviews! I'm glad people are liking it. I will be getting to your prompts soon :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Prompt:** **"Why don't we all go put our PJ's on, and I'll read us a story?"**

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"I'm home," Beckett announced as she walked through the door at a little after 8 at night.

"Mommy," all three kids yelled as they ran at her full speed.

"Hey munchkins."

"You're late!" Lily said sternly.

"I know. I'm sorry, Baby. Mommy was really busy at work." Kate bent down and kissed her 6 year-old daughter's head in apology. The boys were practically climbing her legs looking for attention.

"But you don't go to work tomorrow, right?" Lily asked as her mom reached down and scooped up a twin in each arm. She left her work bag by the door forgotten.

"No, I have tomorrow off. I'll be home all day, so there's no way I will miss your game," Kate answered as she plopped down on the couch. Lily quickly crawled up next to her mom and brothers.

"Why don't we all go put our PJs on, and I'll read us a story?" Castle asked. He knew it was going to be nearly impossible to get the kids to settle down for bed tonight. They missed their mom and were too excited she was home. Kate had been working nonstop for days. She was normally very good about being home for dinner, well as good as a police captain could be, but this week had been hell, and she had been gone a lot.

"In the big bed?" Reece asked flashing his parents a big smile.

"I think that's a great idea. I want to snuggle with my babies. I missed you guys," Kate answered.

"We missed you too, Mommy," Jake replied and gave his mom a big, wet kiss on her cheek.

"Go on upstairs, guys. One of us will be up to help in a minute," Castle told his children. They quickly scrambled off the couch and up the stairs. "No running!" He called after them before turning to his wife. She looked absolutely exhausted. "Did you close the case?"

"Yeah, it's over. Thank God. You remember Anderson? The new, rookie detective. You met him Wednesday."

"Yeah," Castle nodded. He had been spending a little more time in the precinct now that Lilly was in kindergarten and the boys went to preschool 3 days a week. He only went in when there was an interesting case or something exciting going on. This week, he had been there as much as possible. The 12th was investigating a particularly gruesome triple homicide, and it was all hands on deck.

"He cracked the thing wide open at about 4:30," Kate said with pride. She liked this new kid and saw a bright future for him. One of her favorite parts of being captain was mentoring the new guys in her precinct.

"You'll tell me about it later?"

"Of course," she smiled and stood up. "Actually maybe tomorrow," she sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"I'm glad you aren't working all weekend." Castle stepped up and wrapped her in his arms letting his wife sag against him.

"Me too. I was going to be so pissed if I had to miss Lily's first soccer game."

"You would have ducked out of work for an hour and came."

"I would have tried, but still, I would have missed stuff."

"But it's not a problem, so we don't have to worry. Now, did you eat?"

"Yeah, I actually ordered a bunch of pizzas for most of Homicide earlier. Those guys have been working like crazy."

"So has their fearless leader."

"I was just doing my job."

"And doing it damn well. That's why you're on the commissioner's radar."

"Can we please not talk about that tonight? I'm not spending any more time thinking about a promotion that may or may not be offered to be me. I don't even know if I want it. I'm perfectly happy being a Captain. I have no idea what this new commissioner is actually thinking or who in the upper ranks is going to retire when he takes office. Who knows what jobs are going to be open or how he will fill them."

"I know. I'm sorry." He kissed her gently. "Why don't you go change, and I'll go help the munchkins. We'll meet you in the big bed."

"Thank you."

Ten minutes later, all five Castles were snuggled up in bed. Kate was leaning against the headboard with a twin snuggled into each side of her. Lily was sitting in the V of her legs and leaning back into her chest. Castle sat on the foot of the bed facing his family. The kids had chosen two books for him to read. He allowed the extra story tonight because he thought it would take that long to calm them down, but now looking at them sprawled on his wife, it looked like they might fade quicker than he had thought.

"Alright guys, everyone comfy?" Castle asked as he picked up a book. After everyone was ready, Jake needed to squirm around a little before he declared it story time, Castle began to read. His voice was low and relaxing despite the occasional silly voice and flare he added to the lines. As he went further into the story, he slowly calmed his antics and evened out his tone. It looked like he was being successful in putting his kids, and wife apparently, to sleep. Kate was perfectly content with her the 3 little ones listening to her husband's rich voice. She had missed her family so much this week. She loved bedtime snuggles, and it felt like forever since she had gotten to do this. Normally, she wouldn't have all 3 kids at once, but she loved when they were all together in the big bed.

"Let's get them up to bed," Castle whispered when he finished the second story. He wasn't even sure his wife was still awake. The kids definitely weren't.

"Hmm gimme a minute," Kate mumbled.

"Okay." Castle got up and went upstairs to make sure the kids' beds were ready, so they could just lay them down. He also checked the floor to make sure there wasn't any toys laying around that someone could trip on, before heading down to grab the first kid. He didn't mind making three trips so Kate could just relax.

"Alright you take Lilly. I'll take a twin, and we'll have to come back for the other," Kate said as he walked in their bedroom. She was much more awake than when he had left her.

"Are you sure? I can take them all."

"Yeah, I want to tuck them in too. I feel like I haven't seen them in days."

Castle carefully lifted Lily into his arms, but the girl didn't stir. Kate took Reece and made sure Jake was secure in the middle of the bed. He was plenty old enough that she didn't need to worry about him rolling off or anything, but she was still safe. Jake tended to be a squirmy little thing in his sleep. After placing Lily in her bed, Castle went down to get Jake. When he returned, Kate was still in the boys' room watching Reece sleep.

"You okay?" Castle whispered.

"Yeah. I just. .. I love them so much," she replied walking over to drop a kiss on Jake's head.

"Me too."

"I'm going to say good night to Lily really quick," Kate smiled and headed for the boys' door.

Castle gently snagged her wrist as she walked by, "How about I go down and run you a hot bath?"

"That sounds amazing. I could go for a glass of wine too."

"I can handle that," Castle smiled.

"I think the kids are officially sound asleep. Nobody woke when we moved them, so I think we are safe."

"I agree."

"That means you could join me for my bath."

"I like the way you think, Captain."

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 **A/N: Thoughts? Thanks for all the great responses.**


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